Extortionist Twitter demands massive tax breaks

Starr Keshet, 9th February 2011

Twitter is demanding an eight year local tax break - or else. That's right, the company is threatening to ditch the city of San Francisco for Brisbane if it doesn't receive special treatment.

According to the SF Appeal, Twitter has officially asked for an eight-year break from paying any payroll tax at all, a proposal the city has (understandably) rejected thus far.

Instead, SF Supervisor Jane Kim has submitted a compromise proposal that would allow Twitter to remit the same payroll tax bill as in 2010 (when it had an estimated 350 employees), until 2017 or beyond.

"We understand technology companies' desire to grow, but it was hard for me for [city revenue] to take a hit like that," Kim told The Appeal.

"We wanted something that's going to bring jobs to Mid-Market, not just, 'You can move to Mid-Market and pay no tax.'"

Unsurprisingly, Tom Foremski of SiliconValleyWatcher leveled harsh criticism at Twitter over its extortionist behavior, noting that the company loved to loudly "tout its commitment" to social responsibility.

"But clearly this is just public relations chatter. When it comes to paying its local taxes, which goes to support San Francisco local community services and infrastructure, it wants to take away community resources. What type of social responsibility is this?

"Twitter should just #shut-the-f*ck-up about social responsibility and piss off to Brisbane. Good luck recruiting staff. Engineers have plenty of other choices."